The two types of motivation can help you sell more effectively:
- Extrinsic Motivation and
- Intrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic motivation comes from managers, paychecks, or even spouses telling you what to do. It’s less effective than intrinsic motivation, which comes from within you and tells you what you want to do. We need extrinsic motivators to do the things we don’t want to do.
Intrinsic motivation can stand on its own. All you have to do is listen for it. Unfortunately, it can sometimes send you in a bad direction. For example, I might be intrinsically motivated to have the cheese danish at the back of a meeting room, but the extrinsic motivation from my doctor encourages me to eat the apple.
However, if you’re able to focus your intrinsic motivation on achieving the “right” things, you’re a much more effective person.
Using intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to help you sell better works like this:
Focus your intrinsic motivation on understanding what your customer wants. Your primary motivation should be: “What do they want and how can I deliver it?” You’re stopping short if your motivator is your commission check.
Once you discover their motivation, make it your extrinsic motivator. What motivates them? What makes this buyer tick? Listen for it! Is it career growth? Are they motivated by independence? Maybe it’s the idea of staying out of the spotlight? In any event, if you discover what motivates your prospect, you are much better able to deliver it.
Awhile back, we did some research to determine motivators for particular types of buyers.
